The Witch's Brew Blog

Witchstock 2011 a Success Despite Early Music Cut-off by County

2011-11-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

Witchstock 2011 was a hit again in its fifth year of costumed revelry and music. There were 55 children in the Kids' Costume; 24 dogs in the Pet Costume Contest; 7 contestants in the Lime carving contest; and 14 adults in the Adult Costume Contest. Guitarist Terry Premru wowed the crowd with tunes from The Wizard of Oz. Jack Poland & Friends (Mark Welling, Terry Premru & Big Dawg) brought us back to Woodstock and The Defendants rocked the block, but were cut short by Code Enforcement. :( Boo!

Look! It's Mayhem from Allstate and Flo from Progressive!

Checkout the livestream of the event at www.livestream.com/thewitchsbrew. You can see pictures at the Witchstock page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Witchstock/147018345312899 The Patch had some great pictures at http://palmharbor.patch.com/articles/photo-slideshow-witchstock-2011#photo-8295663

Sexiest Costume contest winner! Vegas Showgirl!

Third Place Winners...

Sorry to those who were just getting to the event at 10 pm and to everyone else who wanted to hear the last set from The Defendants. I've filed a grievance with the County regarding the handling of the noise ordinance waiver. I'll keep you posted. Post your thoughts to this blog about the event. Or else!

She's a martini... a dirty martini?

Thanks to all of our sponsors and vendors who helped us put this event on: Celestial Circle, Sunrise Landscape & Irrigation, Corona, Healthy Pet Groceries, Elegant Paw Groomers, Landmark Trophies, Palm Harbor Merchants, & the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter, the Dolphin.

This was the 1st place winner in the adults costume contest... it is a foreclosed haunted house!

3rd Place Winner...

Jolley Trolley tries out new route through Dunedin, Palm Harbor to Tarpon Springs - St. Petersburg Times

2010-11-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

Jolley Trolley tries out new route through Dunedin, Palm Harbor to Tarpon Springs - St. Petersburg Times

Where's Lesley? She's on the Jolley Trolley! Can you find me in the photo? Trolley service starts 11/19/10 on weekends with stops in Downtown Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, and Clearwater Beach! Try it out this weekend to get to the Palm Harbor Bike Fest!

Quote from Deepak Chopra...

2010-06-18T11:27:00.000-04:00

I love this:

"The word Universe means one song. Your every intention or heart's desire is like a melody in nature's symphony, all you have to do is sing your song. A Rumi poem says, 'I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying who listens or what they think.' If you can sing your song with that attitude, you are participating in the Law of Detachment, and nothing will be able to stop the force of your intentions." From The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success By Deepak Chopra

Come sing your songs at Open Mic nite every Friday at The Witch's Brew!

Heal The Gulf Event on June 26th, 2010

2010-06-06T22:58:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, June 26th, we are celebrating the 15-year Anniversary of Oak Trail Books and 3-year Anniversary of The Witch's Brew with a green-oriented event called "Heal the Gulf: Paths to Sustainability." The event will feature a variety of local eco-friendly vendors and presentations on green technology, clean renewable energy alternatives to oil, and ways to heal the Gulf.

The event will start at the Dunedin Causeway at 11 am with a "Hands Across the Sand" gathering. At Noon, participants will join hands for 15 minutes to say NO to offshore oil drilling and Yes to Clean Energy and Renewables. The message is simple. The images are powerful. We are drawing a line in the sand against offshore oil drilling along America's beaches and across this great land.

The event will then continue at Oak Trail Books/The Witch's Brew (1219 Florida Avenue, Palm Harbor, Florida). Presentations will include a water blessing for the Gulf of Mexico, a poetry reading focusing on the Oil Spill tragedy, an art therapy session using art to process emotions related to the catastrophe, and a talk by a psychotherapist on ways to deal with stress related to the spill.

Presentations on practical ways to bring clean renewable energy into our daily lives are scheduled as well. Eric, Director of Code Green Community will be speaking on We are the Revolution: People Power in the 21st Century Taking on Climate Change & Peak Oil. John Gambill of Hotwire Enterprises, will discuss Solar Electricity for Your Home or Business. We will have representatives from the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary and Make Mine Blue to update us on ways to assist in the cleanup with donations and/or volunteering. Music by Florida Folk Singer/songwriter Scotty Rexroat will close the event.

This event is a mini-version of a larger Green Music Festival that is being planned by Kathryn Samaltanos & Lesley Klein that will fundraise for Oil Spill cleanup efforts; the date and location of this event will be determined.

All day long, customers will enjoy 15% off all purchases at Oak Trail Books, may sign up for drawings for prizes like a wine basket from Murielle Wines, and can sample wine & ice cream at The Witch's Brew. The party continues Saturday night with The Witch's Brew's House Band, "The Defendants", who will be performing classic rock from 7:30 pm to 11 pm.

Dan Aykroyd & the Crystal Head Vodka

2010-05-21T16:17:00.000-04:00

Dan Aykroyd signed my Crystal Head Vodka bottle!

I got him to sign one for my sister for her birthday which is May 14th.

Rick got to shake his hand while I got a hug, but no pix to show for it =(

B.B. King

2010-05-17T21:06:00.001-04:00

On May 11, 2010, we have the great pleasure of meeting the legendary King of Blues, BB King, at the Orlando BB King Blues Club. Here are some pix from the evening.

I asked BB to sign Rick's drumstick, but he pointed to his drummer. Then I gave him a pic to sign, but instead he have me two of his pics with his picture on them. How cool is that?!

Thanks Rick for making it happen!

March to the White House: Obama's Crude Awakening

2010-05-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

March to the White House: Obama's Crude Awakening

Happy Earth Day!

2010-05-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

On Earth Day (April 22, 2010), I planted an Allspice tree. Here it is!

Loyal Customers

2010-04-29T16:25:00.000-04:00

Meet Buzz and Dave... my most loyal customers at The Witch's Brew who come in for a cup of coffee and tea six days a week! I look forward to seeing them Monday through Saturday around 10:30 am. They are full of entertaining stories and jokes. Thanks guys for making my day every day!

Tis the season of Mulberries

2010-04-25T15:12:00.001-04:00

The offspring of the mulberry tree that used to stand next to our front door is now in the courtyard area of the store. It is about 30 feet tall with huge leaves and lots of mulberries! They are just starting to ripen. It's been so cool to meet people that relive childhood memories of mulberry picking when they encounter the mulberry tree.

What's neat is that the tree has two low-hanging branches loaded with mulberries. It's like the tree is purposefully leaning it's branches down for us to easily pick its beautiful fruit! Thank you Mother Earth for all of your bounty!

Affirmations

2010-04-22T01:26:00.002-04:00

I use affirmations all the time... here's a good one: "My life is becoming more plentiful. I always have everything I need!" Whenever, I start feeling "down" or fearful, I start saying an appropriate affirmation over and over again until I start feeling better and changing my belief. I will sometimes use a mala or beaded bracelet and repeat the affirmation for each bead.

Since what we focus on, we attract to us, it's really important to be aware of our inner self-talk. Are we putting ourselves down? Criticizing ourselves? Repeating negative beliefs? When I catch myself caught in negative self-talk, I say "cancel-cancel", visualize a big red "X" over it (from Silva Mind Control) and replace the negative self-talk with a positive affirmation related to what it is I really want.

During the "challenging" times we currently find ourselves in, the perception of our reality makes all the difference in the world. Focusing on gratitude for the blessings in our lives will help us raise our frequency and is the quickest way to getting to spiral upward instead of downward. Onward and upward! Peace out!

This hangs from the mulberry tree in our courtyard.

Celebrations

2010-04-03T20:40:00.001-04:00

As I've grown older, I've come to appreciate the purpose and need for celebrating certain things in life... like birthdays, anniversaries, and Holidays... In the tarot, the 3 of cups represents celebrations. Taking the time to appreciate a birthday or holiday helps us to gain perspective and balance in our lives. Stopping and smelling the roses is really a way of experiencing gratitude. Just spending time with the people you love in celebration of a Holiday like Easter is the gift; especially in our busy, busy lives. So, have a joyous Easter celebration... may the Easter Bunny be good to you!

Happy Easter 2010!

2010-03-31T23:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Spring and Happy Easter! The mulberries on mulberry tree are forming, the birds are singing, the sun is shining... life is good. And the bees are buzzing! Actually, yesterday a swarm of honey bees landed on the oak tree in front of Oak Trail Books. It was pretty amazing to see. Thanks to our friend, Stan Schneider, we learned of and contacted Johnny Walker who is a bee keeper from Seminole. He kindly came and moved the swarm to his honeybee community and now they will make honey! Sweet! I'll take it as a good omen... a sign of sweetness coming to our front door. Have a wonderful Easter Sunday with your family! Oak Trail Books and The Witch's Brew will be closed on Sunday.

Meet Johnny B. Walker, the bee keeper.

This is the bees's new home!

Buzz... buzz...